


welcome to forgetting rembrances

by smartbuckley



Category: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Movies)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Bethany Walker POV, Emotional Infidelity, F/M, Platonic Romance, introspective piece, sexual innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28162065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smartbuckley/pseuds/smartbuckley
Summary: Bethany thinks about her relationship with Alex.
Relationships: Alex Vreeke/Bethany Walker
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	welcome to forgetting rembrances

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chasing_givenchy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasing_givenchy/gifts).



> I hope, whomever reads this, enjoys it. To the person this is a gift for, I hope you really enjoy this. I had something _more_ planned, where Alex and Bethany got stuck in Jumanji, as themselves, in the future, but shit happened and I never got to writing it that way. Maybe in the future. I hope you enjoy this, and I'm sorry it's late and considered a treat, since I was your original giftee and didn't realize there was a timed deadline for this, aha, oops. Also, I.. did this post second film, so I hope that's okay, because I thought the second film was 'welcome to the jungle' because I'm dumb lol
> 
> In some housekeeping - there is nothing sexual in this story, as Bethany is still considered underage? I don't know her exact age, so I assumed seventeen. If I'm wrong, then oops. That being said, there is sexual innuendo, and hints of a romance and an emotional affair, so take care of yourselves.

Walking the empty roads, Bethany huddled into her jacket, each breath she made visible in the night thanks to the coldness of the air. Her heart pounded inside of chest, and she didn’t know if it was because of where she was going - who she was seeing, or if it was because her friends were gone, probably in danger, and she needed a way to save them. Hell, who was Bethany kidding, she knew the reason her heart pounded inside of her chest was because she was going to Alex’s home - it did that every time she saw him, every time they ‘bumped’ into one another, every time they --

He was married. He was married, and older, and just because something clicked when they first met in a video game, that didn’t mean that it would work out now. Especially because he was married and older. It was these thoughts that played around in Bethany’s mind as she continued to walk towards Alex’s home, her heart thudding quickly inside of her chest the closer she got to his street, and then his house. 

When she finally arrived, she could only stare at the driveway to the home a few footsteps away. She knew she should take the last few steps and make her way to the door, and knew that her friends were depending on her, even if they didn’t realize it at that moment. She couldn’t let them get stuck in the game once more, couldn’t let them go through it, especially without her, she thought, biting the inside of her cheek, closing her eyes momentarily before straightening her shoulders and inhaling quickly before exhaling, ready.

On the top step of Alex’s front door, Bethany finds herself taking one more deep breath before knocking, waiting for him to answer - hoping it’s him that answers and not his wife, needing to see him more than anything, despite the circumstances.

And she gets her wish in just a few seconds, a small smile forming on her face when she spots him and takes him in, unable to stop herself from noticing how good he looks.

* * *

“Okay, so we’ll need to get into the game the same way they did,” Alex replies, his eyes wide as he looks at her and Bethany finds herself nodding, biting her lower lip as she goes through the steps they worked on together throughout the previous night. 

“There won’t be a lot of characters left,” Beth whispers, fingers flipping through the small pages of notes, her body shifting as she moves forward to take a closer look. She can feel Alex’s body heat through the jeans she’s wearing, can feel the warmth they provide, and part of her just wants ---

Wants what she can’t have, which is something she knows, something she has such a tough time remembering, no matter how many times she repeats the words from earlier inside of her head. Sometimes, she’ll look at him out of the corner of her eye and think he’s looking back, but she doesn’t say anything, just purses her lips and continues onward with the notes, because --

That’s all she can really do.

* * *

When they’re finally in the game, there’s a thrill that shoots through her. She might not be Shelly Oberone, might feel an inane loss at being a character she doesn’t know, doesn’t recognize, hasn’t grown to love like it’s her own body - because it  _ was _ , even if it was for a short period of time --

It’s in the past.

And now she’s a new character, a damn horse, and she hates it, but at the same time, she loves it because Alex is back, and he’s back in Seaplane’s body, and even though she’s not Shelly, she’s a horse, and he’s riding her, and if it’s the only way she can have him riding her, well --

She’ll take it, even if it’s the only way possible for her to have it. And she knows he feels the same way, and can tell in the way that he caresses her body as a horse with some form of nostalgia in his eyes, some form of  _ want _ that has her heart pounding even more than she thought was possible.

And then he’s on top of her, riding her, his legs surrounding her, and she wants to focus but they need to find her friends. He promised, and she’s absolutely alright with that, no matter how astray her thoughts are.

When they find her friends, something settles inside of her, even if she still feels like something is missing. She ignores that feeling though, is used to ignoring it, and settles on following through with their next steps -- the next steps that have her back as Shelly.

When that happens, something in her relaxes completely, and she finds herself looking over to Alex once she’s back in Shelly’s body, smirking at him before blushing when she realizes he’s looking back at her -- at him -- with a similar look.

She rolls her eyes at herself before they move forward, because she knows that if anyone realized just how at home she felt in this body -- well, she doesn’t want them to know.

* * *

They’re back outside of the game, in their regular bodies and she can’t focus on anything right now because she’s stuck remembering the words Alex had whispered to her after they had returned from the game.

She remembers how he had caressed her cheek, body nearly pressing against her own - remembers how she had sucked back a breath and closed her eyes, her body tingling with --- electricity, in every spot they were touching. Remembers how he had kissed her forehead, lightly, like he was scared to do more, but he wanted to do more.

“You know things would be different if circumstances were different, right?” He whispers and Bethany looks up at him, nodding, a small smile forming on her face, before she wraps her arms around him and just hugs him before pulling away.

She knows things would be incredibly different, knows that maybe they would be together, without the stigma of him being married, or their age difference, remembers that as she steps away from him and then heads towards her friends, ignoring how Martha smiles sadly at her, the only friend who knows about her true feelings.

Even as she locks arms with Martha and Spencer as they walk - she’s focused on Alex. Even as they stop and hear familiar music and then  _ rush _ to follow it - she’s too focused on Alex to pay attention, not until there are…

Are those Zebras?

* * *

Hours later, she’s in bed, exhausted and tired and ---

And her phone is ringing, and she looks at it in confusion because it’s two in the morning, and  _ no one _ should be calling her at this time of night, but she looks at her phone, and sees Alex’s name, and her heart starts pounding once more, and Bethany can’t help but wonder if it’s beating to the tune of Jumanji, because that’s certainly what it feels like.

She lets it ring for a few minutes before she answers it with a small exhalation.

“Hi,” she whispers, biting her lower lip while playing with the hem of her tank top, something shooting through her.

“Hi,” she hears, and she just knows he’s smiling, knows it like she knows the back of her hand.

“What are you doing calling me this late?” She finds herself asking, holding onto a breath as she waits for an answer.

“I was thinking about you, and I couldn’t stop thinking and--”

“Alex,” Bethany finds herself stopping him, closing her eyes briefly before shaking her head.

“You shouldn’t be--”

“I know. But I needed to hear your voice, needed---”

“Your wife is next to ---”

“No. She’s working right now,” he interrupts and a small whine escapes from Bethany, her fingers trailing up and down her stomach.

“We shouldn’t---” she adds, biting her lower lip, frowning briefly when Alex hums.

“I’m going to hang up -- and then, I won’t be tempted to---”

“Okay,” Bethany whispers.

“I’m going to miss you,” she adds, ignoring the way Alex chuckles, ignoring the way she wishes he was physically next to her, laughing, instead of on the phone.

“I miss you too,” he whispers before hanging up the phone, Bethany holding it against her ear for another few minutes before putting it down and turning to her side, her eyes closing with a smile on her face.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated and always responded to, eventually. Thank you for reading. If I forgot any tags, please let me know immediately.


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